All artists attending
Feria Maestros del Arte
are housed with local families at Lakeside. This experience offers a unique
opportunity to forge cross-cultural bonds between families of diverse
backgrounds. Many artists have never had the chance to get to know the
foreigners who come to live in their country and often, the expatriates
have not gotten to know many of the Mexicans up close and personal.

Silent
revenge led me to one of
the best decisions I have made here. I signed up to host Mexican artists
displaying their creations at Chapala's annual Maestro del Arte exposition.
I wanted to say, just once, "I'm sorry, the casita is taken that
week," should one of the disappointers ask to come. Grateful for
a comfortable respite, these artists drifted in as strangers but left
as family members of choice. Our adoptees will return for a third year
in November for a Mexican homecoming. Carol L. Bowman

Sleep
Where? Two of the Feria's favorite artists live in a
tiny mountain town in Michoacán. Until the Feria, they had never
been in an expatriate's home. It wasn't until after the Feria that their
host discovered that Cecilia and Fidel had not slept in their beds but
rather on top of them. They had not used the towels and soap put out
for them and it didn't look as if they had even used the shower. Not
wanting to offend or take advantage of their host's hospitality, these
modest people did what they believed was expected of them as guests.
This situation brought to our attention need to have hosts explain and/or
demonstrate certain things to their guests - turn down the bed, show
them where the hot water is, tell them that the soap and towels are
for their use, etc.

Waffles
you say! Catalina and her family (from a small mountain
town in Michoacán) were wonderful guests. After worrying about
dinner and being concerned our guests were getting enough and the "right"
food, we decided one meal to serve waffles. Our guests were so thrilled
with them, not only did we have them the next a.m. for breakfast, whenever
we asked Catalina what she would like to eat, she would say "Waffles,
please." Before she left, we made her a present of the waffle iron.
It pleased us so that Catalina beamed with delight as we handed it to
her. We hope she will be returning next year so that we might continue
learning about each other's cultures. Thank you for a wonderful experience."
Margaret and Bill

Missing
Artist - We
were planning on hosting two families for the Maestros del Arte show.
We received a call from Marianne telling us our first family was ready
to be picked up. My husband, Daniel, drove to the site to meet our first
family and let them follow us home with their large truck. As he was
starting the car, a young man and his mother knocked on the window to
get in. Thinking this must be our second family, Daniel loaded them
up and brought them home, They were tired from their bus ride from the
Pátzcuaro area on which they hauled nine large boxes of goods,
so they immediately settled into their room and went to sleep. About
an hour later, Marianne calls and says our second family is at the Feria
site and ready to be picked up. I told her we already had two families
and no more extra beds. She asked who we had and when I told her she
said, "So that's where my missing artist is! I thought we had lost
them!"Donna & Dan

You're
where? One
year a host took four of six people from the Molinero family. The other
two family members were staying around the corner with another host.
The family was taking a bus from Tzintzuntzan, Michoacán but
didn't arrive until midnight the night before the Feria. They had been
asked to take the bus all the way to Chapala, however, when Marianne
returned to her house after showing other artists where they were staying,
her housemate told her someone had called and all they said in Spanish
was, "Molinero, camionera" and hung up. Realizing it was the
Molinero family, Marianne hopped in her van and drove to the bus station
in Tonalá, however, she had no idea what bus line they were arriving
on or if she was even going to the right bus station. Luckily, there
are only two bus lines coming from the Pátzcuaro area. There
were no artists waiting at the first, but at the second there was the
Molinero family, heads hanging, obviously very, very tired. Greeted
with huge smiles and the knowledge they would not have to spend all
night at the bus station, all 6 of them squeezed into Marianne's 1970
VW van.

When delivered to their hosts at 1 am in the morning, they were promptly
fed a hot meal of tamales, rice and beans. Mother Molinero had gone
upstairs right away. While everyone was enjoying their meal, she came
downstairs and asked Chris if she should go down to the lake to wash
her hair. Chris and I looked at each and realized a quick lesson in
the mechanics of how to operate the shower was needed. Mother Molinero
went to bed content and with clean hair. Chris & Harry

For information on hosting
during the Feria, contact Brenda Byrom (376) 765-2408 or 331 534 6985 cellphone or email brenda-colin@hotmail.com.